Federated Raceway at I-55
Cruising Clanton nabs WoO victory at I-55
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Clanton (25) held off Richards (1). (stlracingphotos.com)
PEVELY, Mo. (Sept. 13) — And the beat goes on for Shane Clanton. With rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ike closing in, the surging Clanton outdueled Chub Frank and Josh Richards in a stirring late-race battle to capture the 26th annual Pepsi Nationals at I-55 Raceway. | World of Outlaws notebook
Clanton, 33, of Locust Grove, Ga., beat the impending weather to make the 50-lap feature his second straight victory on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. It was his third win in the last six tour events and came one week after he scored the biggest triumph of his career in the 38th annual World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Clanton, who earned $10,150 for his fourth WoO victory of 2008, steered his RSD Enterprises Rocket car forward from the seventh starting spot, grabbing the lead on lap 30 when he took advantage of a slight slip by race-long pacesetter Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. He held off the challenges of Frank and Shinnston, W.Va.’s Richards over the remaining distance to register his 10th career WoO victory.
Frank, who started from the pole position, settled for a second-place finish in his Lester Buildings Rocket, several car lengths behind Clanton after he lost ground during the final circuits while engaged in a tight tussle for position with Richards. It was the best WoO run for the 46-year-old Frank since he was a runner-up on July 20 at the Belleville (Kan.) High Banks.
Richards, 20, finished third in his father Mark’s Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket. Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., advanced from the 10th starting spot to secure a career-best WoO finish of fourth in his Pierce Race Car, and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., quietly completed the top five in NASCAR Sprint Cup star Clint Bowyer’s Traeger Grills-Chevy Rocket.
Clanton positioned himself for his winning move when he passed defending WoO champion Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., for second on a lap-16 restart. He chased Frank until exploding into the lead on lap 30.
“He was hitting his marks until he pushed off turn four and slowed just a little bit,” Clanton said of Frank. “When he pushed, I just turned left (entering turn one) and went right by him. That was the opening I needed. I don’t know if I could have passed him or not without it.”
Clanton tried to drive conservatively when he approached lapped traffic late in the race, which was slowed by six cautions flags but none over the final 24 circuits. He got a wakeup call, however, when Frank and Richards went three-wide with him for the lead on lap 42.
“I saw Josh underneath me and I said, ‘Holy cow! I’ve got to get going!’” described Clanton, whose previous WoO finishes at the third-mile oval were eighth (2007) and 15th (2005). “I was stopping getting into the corners, trying to be careful, so after I saw (Richards) I picked up the pace a little bit.”
After putting some space on his pursuers, Clanton was met in Victory Lane by his wife Jennifer and son Ryan, 5, who shared a WoO win with his father for the first time this season.
Finishing in positions 6-10 were UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill.; Rick Eckert of York,Pa.; Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who started from the outside pole and got shuffled back from second on an early restart; Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill.; and Francis, who ran second for laps 3-16 before fading with a car he called “miserable.”
Francis’s frustrating performance cost him a chance to make up some ground on WoOLMS points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who struggled to an 11th-place finish. Lanigan holds a commanding 126-point edge over Francis with only four tour events remaining.
Thirty-nine cars were signed in for the evening’s action, which was run under a constant threat of rain. Forecasts called for a 100-percent chance of precipitation, but rain stayed north and the remnants of Hurricane Ike didn't reach the area until after midnight.
Weather, however, did spoil the remainder of the WoO weekend. The Best Western Illinois Fall Nationals scheduled for Sunday night at La Salle Speedway was canceled after the high-banked, quarter-mile oval was swamped by precipitation for much of the day and more was in the forecast through Sunday afternoon. Any makeup of the race won't include WoO sanctioning.�
World of Outlaws @ I-55: (1) Shane Clanton, (2) Chub Frank, (3) Josh Richards, (4) Jason Feger, (5) Shannon Babb, (6) Dennis Erb Jr., (7) Rick Eckert, (8) Tim Fuller, (9) Brian Shirley, (10) Steve Francis, (11) Darrell Lanigan, (12) Billy Faust, (13) Vic Coffey, (14) Clint Smith, (15) Ken Schrader, (16) Jeff Johns, (17) Jason McBride, (18) Tim Manville, (19) Ed Dixon, (20) Denny Woodworth, (21) Joe Isabell, (22) Sean Beardsley, (23) Bryan Collins, (24) Jeff Isabell Jr. Fast qualifier (among 39 cars): Babb, 12.464 seconds. Heat race winners: Erb, Richards, Francis, Clanton. Consolation winners: Dixon, Johns. Provisional starters: Beardsley, Isabell.
